Sebring man accused of punching dogs

SEBRING — A Sebring man was arrested Wednesday after a woman told Sebring police that she witnessed him repeatedly punching his two dogs, Ice, a German shepard/husky mix and Prada, a pit bull, according to a report released today.

Patrick Drew Yungandreas, 54, 2608 Emerson Ave., Sebring, was arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to animals.

A woman said in the report that Yungandreas was staying with her and her daughter and that she previously saw him “yelling at them (the dogs and striking them with his hands for no apparent reason,” the report said.

But the woman, who felt that the continued alleged abuse was “just too much,” decided to call police, the report said.

The woman, who did not want her name used, said in a telephone interview she was afraid Yungandreas was going to kill the dogs and that he had struck them so hard he had injured his hand.

Both dogs were doing OK as of Thursday, but were skittish, she said.

In the report, the woman told police she saw Yungandreas “repeatedly punch Ice in his head, mid section and rear with his closed fist,” the report said.

Several hours later, the woman saw him repeatedly punch Prada, the report said.

Yungandreas came inside the house after being outside with Prada and “started yelling about how Prada wasn’t listening to him,” the woman told police, adding that Yungandreas then started “punching Prada very hard on the side of her head with his fist.”

The woman said that “Prada cowered away from the punches, but did not make a sound or attempt to bite Patrick,” the report said. She added that once “Patrick stopped punching Prada, Prada came over to her and tired to hide behind her legs.”

Yungandreas “continued yelling about how the dogs were not obeying him and he picked Prada up by the neck and threw her into his bedroom,” the woman told police.

Yungandreas denied to police that he had abused the dogs, the report said, adding that no visible injuries appeared on the canines.